DRB Build in Mount Isa

Hi all, my name is Darren and I’m a GT40oholic. I've decided to join this forum to get me motivated to finish my DRB GT40 project.
Well, what can I tell you that has led me to this point that I’m at right now, did you ever as a kid have a poster on your wall of something that you really liked and told yourself every day that one day you would own one? Well mine was the iconic mk1 gt40 in Gulf colours! Back in NZ I saved for what I thought was forever and brought a GT40 kit from an orchid farmer second hand, I was so proud of myself I finally had the car of my dreams, or so I thought after getting it and then finding out the manufacture had gone out of business and there was no paper work to say that it could be registered and no construction manual or any help from anyone.
I still battled on, getting it on four wheels and an engine in it which was a Ford 289 with 4 Webbers (but later went EFI) and a Renault 4 speed out of a truck and that’s about as far as I got till life’s minor issues got in the way and I had to sell my baby and move to Australia. I started my new life in Central Auz and always had a yearning for the car that I let go, after moving to the Gold Coast and getting myself sorted I decided to buy myself a birthday present in the form of a DRB GT40 - some call it retail therapy I call it “just cause I wanted it”, so there in my garage was the beginnings of my new baby just a body and frame and a box of odds and ends.
I started the build straight away with a lot of enthusiasm and got the suspension on it and some of the inside but then some of my neighbors… (no - one of the newer neighbors) didn't like the fact that I was younger than him, lived in the same street and was building a sports car so he made the build as hard as possible by calling the cops and the local Council and complaining every time that the garage door was open even though the authorities said I was doing nothing wrong. It grows thin very quickly so the build was done in secret behind closed doors a little at a time but very very slowly. Working 2 weeks away and 1 week at home didn't help either. Now we have moved to Mount Isa to have a change from the Gold Coast with no neighbors to complain… I can build the car of my dreams! So that is how I got here, congrats to those of you who read it. I'll start the build log with stuff that I've already done to bring you all up to speed.

First was to sort out what I had and to make it look pretty, so off to the polishers to make the front end look shiny and as they did that, I got all new bushes and wheel bearings from the States. Being that the front suspension is from a Corvette and the rear is custom but uses Corvette brakes and hubs, once the front arms were back, I needed to fit the bushes (not the easiest of jobs) but done and fitted to the car.

Next was the lights, I went for LED tail lights in original style because they look nice and are brighter. I figured if someone sees a GT40 driving down the road they aren’t going to be looking at the brake lights and I don’t want a 4WD attached to the rear of my car. For the repeaters I went for Falcon ones just for something different, for something completely different for the head lights I decided to try and fit some lights from a late model car to them (sounds like it would look odd but bear with me on this) first was Mazda 3 head lights but after starting I didn't like the way the inside light cut down, so next was Mazda 6 MPS lights, these had potential but the high and low beams were on the outer edges of the lights so after a lot off cutting and grinding I got them fitted and wired them up to see how they looked… still wasn't completely happy with the look but more on that later.
 

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Darren,
I know the challenges you face as I have "been there done that". If you need any reference material I stil have my build manual from when I got my DRB. Feel free to look at my build thread for any references that you think will help out.
http://http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-build-logs/13742-drb-5-a.html
If you would like some DRB reference info, I still have most of the original build manual, though I don't think it will contribute too much help. But if you think you would like it I can post it to you. It might help in the A/C or wiper installlation. Things like that. If you have any questions I would be glad to help any I can. As you have found out it takes a lot longer to do than you anticipate, so keep plugging away.

Bill
 
thanks for the support guys I'm guessing you all know the hidden hardship with the build of a car like this.
Next up I wanted to work on the wipers and A/C. The inside wipers were straight forward, spend money with DRB and then fit. One thing I could do was make the A/C ducting / steering column mount - I made it out of aluminum so that I could fit my own ducting inside to help with air flow and save weight.

I then fitted the brake and clutch pedal assembly’s using CNC products as I had used them before, ran all the fluid lines through the center console with the coolant pipes, and then fitted the floor panels to finish it off.
Rear suspension was easy, again spent money with DRB then get all parts ceramic coated to make it look nice.
 

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Now for the engine: something different a mighty Toyota 2.4Lt 22rr see.
 

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No just kidding! Ford’s new 2011 5.0 all aluminum quad cam mustang motor with a Porsche G50 transaxle, once they were bolted together, I then found out the engine mounts are different to the local 5.4 modular motor which is available as an option from DRB, the intake sits right were part of the frame of the car is I’ve started to make up the engine mounts but trying to fit the engine in without modifying the frame- not easy. One option is to turn the intake around but then it would interfere with the exhaust routing and just look wrong. Any ideas?
 

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Hi Darren
Regarding you intake problem I had a similar issue with my LS1. I think you will just have to turn the manifold 180 and have the exhaust as a twin system. This worked for me,I fitted the air box between the cats.
You have made a good choice,the DRB is a great product and I found them terific to deal with.

Darrell DBR#46
LS1 G50
 
Hi Darren

Looking good.
From memory Dimi, a DRB owner on this site had to mod his frame or mounts to get it to fit and it was tight.
DRB told him it fitted but he had to massage it.

He may see this and chime in.

Jim
 
Hi Darren, looks great, but a little advice if i can be so bold, when its finnished Dont go for a test drive up to Camoweal.
have fun and keep us up dated
cheers John
 
yes i am still alive and working on the car but slowly life has just got in the way for the past year thanks for the input from everyone i have done some work on the car like carbon fiber dash and a new set of head lights and a set of wheels i'll get some photos and wright up a story and post it. whats wrong with camooweal john? at least the NT border is just there and has a higher speed limit that's about all that's good about it though
 
OK so while I've not been on here I have been slowly building the gt this is what I done over the Christmas / new years brake so don't say any thing about the bolts because it's just what I had sitting in the shed as soon as the bolt shop in town opens I'll go and get some zinc plated one to make them look a bit nicer, what I've done with the engine mounts is make them a three piece design to help with getting the engine in and out a bit easier, the cam phase's on the front of the head stick out a bit and make it really hard to lift the engine up so the easiest was to pull the engine back and out and these work perfectly.
 

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On another subject, started on the new head lights this time with Mitsubishi Lancer CJ lights as you can see the fitting of them involved a lot off modifying but so far the result is the look I wanted now just have to do some fiber glassing but have to wight because it was 46 degrees c today to hot do glass.
 

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Now the dash I know everyone puts Smiths or VDO gauges in but I wanted once again something different the gauges are digital but look like analog and to spruce it up a but carbon fiber has been used as a backing I only went for six gauges because from previous experience you can have too much information and that can distract you from the drive. A nice feature of these gauges is when they go out of a certain perimeter the gauge changes colour, example if the fuel level drops below 15% it changes from blue to red, same with the other gauges & you can set the rev counter so when it reaches 8000rpm it changes to red as well.
 

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For the serge and radiator overflow tanks I wanted to hide them it’s just the way hoses and wiring look it’s a but ugly so am trying to hide everything fuel pumps, battery, wiring anything that does not need to be seen will be out of sight to make the engine bay clean and un cluttered, these will be sitting behind carbon fiber panels and all that will stick out is the cap for the radiator overflow.
 

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Also my wheels arrived Foose Knuckle 18x8 and 18x12 got to love the wide body.
 

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More pictures inner door handles, pedal assembly and on a side note the trip up to Isa
 

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